Santos’ Vice President of Eastern Australia, James Baulderstone, today reiterated the commitment to the development of the Narrabri Gas Project, saying it remains the focus of our work in NSW.
Mr Baulderstone announced a revision of gas reserves, but explained this will not impact Santos’ plans to provide a more secure energy supply for NSW, via an initial development of 100-140TJ of natural gas.
Following the new ASX guidelines Santos has reduced its categorisation of reserves to better match the phased nature of the development. Santos is committed to the Narrabri Gas Project and is at present focussed on the delivery of the Environmental Impact Statement.
Santos is encouraged by the strong support we have experienced in the local Narrabri community and look forward to delivering Phase 1 of the Project, which is a crucial component of a secure energy supply for NSW over the coming decades.
Future drilling campaigns will continue to convert resources to reserves and will enable us to bring more gas on line for NSW customers, consistent with our stated aim of supplying up to half the state’s natural gas. Our ultimate aim is the delivery of up to 200TJ of natural gas from the Narrabri Gas Project.
Development of NSW’s substantial, high quality natural gas resource is the best way to minimise energy prices for homes and for the businesses which employ thousands of people across the state.
While our focus is on the Narrabri Gas Project, we do hold acreage across the broader north-west region which we may look to explore further in the future, subject to landholder consent.
We have been clear we will only drill where the landholder is happy to work with us. Earlier this year we signed the agreed principles of land access with AGL, NSW Farmers, irrigators and Cotton Australia to reinforce this commitment.